Stock-feeding mechanism



F. L- MACKENZIE. STOCK FEEDING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED MAYI'.1-919.

1,432,770. D Patented Oct. 24,1922.

Patented Oct. 24, 1922.

FRED L. MACKENZIE, OF BEIIERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOEMACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

STOCK-FEEDING MECHATLIISMI.

Application filed May 7,

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED L. MACKENZIE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county ofEssex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements inStock-Feeding Mechanisms, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likereference characterson the drawings indicating like parts in theseveral. figures. V Y I This invention relates to stock feedingmechanisms and more particularly to means for gripping the stock toprevent movement thereof relatively to the saidmeans at certainpredetermined periods in the stock feeding operations.

It is an object of the invention to provide simple and effective meansfor gripping the stock and more particularly means of the kind describedwhich is readily controllable at the will of the operator to release thestock.

Ina well-known type of stock gripping mechanism, a circular orcylindrical member is mounted in a slot in the stock guiding member andis arrangedto grip the stock upon attempted movement of the, latter inone direction and to permit the stock to pass freely upon movement intheopposite direction. This device hasbeen employed especially inconnection with wire working machines and as heretofore constructed hasnot infrequently given trouble because of the collection of dirt thereinnecessitating the disassembling of the parts of the device. A

. more serious objection, however, arises from the lack of means forenabling the operator to control the gripping member so that the wiremay be withdrawn in the event it becomes damaged in such a way as toaffect adversely the operation of the machine or when it is desired tointroduce another reel of wire or substitute wire-of a different size orquality. It is a further object of the invention to improve thisspecific type of mechanism in such manner as to provide a stock grippingdevice which will notv clog J and which is manually operable to effectthe release of the wire at the will of the operator.

. Other objects and features of theinvention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description and will be pointed out in the claims. 4

1919. Serial No. 295,413.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front view of a wire working machineshowing one'application of the invention, and i Fig. 2 is a perspectiveview, partly in section, of the illustrative embodimentof the invention.

In the illustrative machine, the wire stock 4- is fed from the reel 6and through a guideway 7 by feeding mechanism of a wellknown typecomprising an upper feed roll 8 and a lower co-operating feed roll 10.The first-mentioned roll is secured to a shaft 12 which is oscillatedpositively, first in one direction and then in the other directionthrough operative connections with lever 14 i which is operated by anarm 16 fixedly attached to a shaft 18 driven from the main shaft of themachine- Pivoted at 20 is a supporting arm 22 for the lower feed roll 10and the gear wheel 24 which latter is held constantly in mesh with thedriven gear wheel 26 on the shaft 12 through the operation of a spring28. In the operation of the machine the feed rolls 8 and 10 are rotatedpositively to feed the wire stock to the right in Fig. 1 for a definiteperiod of time and then the feed roll is moved back- .wardly preparatoryto the next feeding operation, and during the backward movement of saidroll the lower roll 10 is separated from the upper roll to release thewire, this being effected by a plunger 30 which moves into contact atthe proper time with an adjustible stop 32 in the supporting arm 22 soas to rock the said arm on its pivot to carry the lower roll out ofengagement with the upper roll. For a more detailed disclosure of theparts thus far described reference should be had to the patent to BordenNo. 1,016,930, granted February 13, 1912.

As the feed roll '8 turns backwardly at certain regularly recurringperiods there is a tendency to displace the wire 4 through engagementwith the moving roll. Hence means are provided for preventing movementof the wire in a direction reverse of the direction of feed. This meansin the construction shown comprises wire stock gripping means of whichthe guideway 7 forms a part, since the lower portion of the guidewayprovides a surface 34: over which the wire passes and against which itis clamped by a cooperating gripper member preferably in the'form ofacylinder 36. For economy in manufacture,- the guideway 7 is made of twopieces of which the lower presents-the wire supporting and clampingsurface asdescribed, :and the upper a guiding vided with a bifurcatedportion which partly embraces and rotatably receives the cylinder 86.The other arm 44 of'thelever 42 is acted upon by spring means whichoperates to cause the arm 46 of the lever to hold the cylinderyieldingly in contact with the wire. In the construction shown'thespring means for operating-"the lever is found in a spring locatedunderand'acting upwardly on the outer'end o'f 'the 'arm '44: of the lever.Preferably a casing 54 is provided on'fthe' upper member 138 oftheguideway for housing said spring! Th'econstruction and arrangement aresuch that the cylinder or roller 36,1nay he moved to. clamp and touncle-mp orrelease the wire. "Normally'the cylinder or'roller is heldyi'eldingly against the wire throughthe operation of the spring 52.,Yet'this pressure is not sufi'cient to interfere with thefmovement' ofthe 'wire inthe direction of feed, that is, to'the right in Figs. 1 and2. It willbe clear upon inspection o'f th'e's'e figures that movement ofthe wire in the direction indicated tends to' move'the cylinder awayfrom the cooperating clamping surface 34,

the cylinder being bothfrotatab'ly and slidably mounted in the forkedend of the memher 432, and thusYn'o wire clamping orgripping actiontakes place during thefeedjof' the wire. But upon attempting to move thewire in the reverse direction the friction between the wire and thecylinder tends to carry the cylinderto the left -(inFig.'2) and thus thewire itself assisted. by the spring 52 causing a clamping otthe wirebetween the cylinder 'and'the surface '34:

whichfprevents any reverse movement ofthe wire. 'In order to obtain afine adjustment of the lever 42 and especially of its bifur- ,cated end50 with respect to thecylinder 36and the clamping surface 34;, the pivot56 of the lever is provided with aneocentric portion 58 which the barrelor bearmg of the lever surrounds, the arrangement fbeing such thatrotation of the pivot will raise or lower the end 50 of the lever: as

desired. i I

It is thought that the manner of operation I of the device has been setfto'rth with suifi Tcieni; detail in connection withthe foregoingdescription ofthe structural elements of the. device. It 'may be'pointed out in addition,

pro-

' Letters Patent of *the "United States is:

however, that the wire may be released from the gripping device, so-thatit may be withdrawn toward the left, simply by pressing downwardly onthe arm 44 of the lever. Thus a twisted ordamaged end of wire stock maybe readily removed. It is necessary,- moreover, to remove in this waythe remnant end of one reel before introducing theleadingend of wirefrom another reel,

so that the occasions when the manual control of the gripping devicewill proveuseful are not infrequent. It is clear also that dirt orforeign substances oi any kind are not l kely to clog the gripperdev1cework1ng in an open slot andt'hat dirt ma' be readily1'emoved"t'ro1n the slot 48. IV oreov'er,'the substitution-oi 'newpartsfor old maybe easily'eflecte'd simply by removing the pivot 56which is in the'fo'rin of abolt. While the stock gripping device" justdescribed is 5 very efiectlve for the purposes described it has theadditional"advantage over 'many "forinsof gripping devices ofnot-marrin'g the surface oi 'soft stock. "While'the invention isdisclosed iii-connection with astationary "guideway so that the functionof the device is that of preventing displacement of j the wire stockwith respectto a stock feeding'mechanism, itis clear that-the gripping"device maybe mounte'd'o'n or'be made '9 apart of areciprocatorymemberwhichmay then beemp'loyed as a wirefeeding device.Having thus described my inventionfwhat I claim as new anddesire-tosecure by 1.111 a machine'of the cla ssklescribed, wire gripping meanscomprising a support for the wire,a member mounted at one side of-thesupport and having a bifurcated end, and a' cylinder". freely fslidableand rotatable withiifthe' bifurcated end of the member and ar anged tobeheld by said member in contactw'ith' the wire to" press thesameagainst thesupp'ort, t V v p 2."In a machine of'the'class described,wire gripping means comprising a support for the wire, a cylinderarranged in engagement w th thewire for pressing the same against thesupport, a member "having a forlired end "arranged'to"engage the cylin-"drical' surface of the cylinder toco'ntrolthe cylinder, and means forcausing themember to press the cylinder against the wire.

3. In a machine of the" class Ydesc ribed,

'wire' gripping means "comprising asupport '120 for the wire, a membermounted at one side of the support, 1a cylinder" controlled by saidmemberand arranged to contact with the wireon the side opposite thesupport, means' for aeting yieldingly on the member'-125 to cause thecylinder to be yieldingly pressed against the 1 wire; and" means for'ti'djusting the member towardand" from the wire support.

i. In a machine of the class 'described} 1$0 wire grippingmeanscomprising aguided the support, an eccentric for adjusting way for thewlre having a slot therein ex-i posing the wire, a lever having one endprojecting intosaid slot, means mounted for free bodily movement in theend of the lever and controlled by said end of the lever for grippingthe wire, and means for yieldingly pressing the end of the lever intosaid slot; 5. In a machine of the class described, wire gripping meanscomprising a support for the wire, a lever mounted at one side of thesupport, means controlled by the lever for gripping the wire against thesupport, means for adjusting the lever toward and from the support forthe wire, and

' means for yieldingly pressing the secondmentioned means agalnst thewire.

6. In a machine of the class described, wire gripping means comprising asupport for the Wire, a lever mounted at one side aid lever toward andfrom said support, a ylinder for clamping the wire on the support andarranged to be controlled by said lever, and a spring operative to pressthe cylinder yieldingly against the wire on the support.

' 7. Mechanism for gripping wire stock comprising a support for thewire, a cylinder of metal or other suitable substance, amember having aforked end arranged to engage the cylindrical surface of the cylinder topress the same against the Wire, and a spring for moving the member inthe direction to cause the cylinder to grip the W1re.

In testimony whereof I have signed my I name to this specification.

FRED L. MACKENZIE.

